Soap holder



April 6, 1965 B. E. WHATLEY 3,177,048

SOAP HOLDER Filed on. 10, 1963 i 26 22 fi mmvrox. gLANCHE E. WHATLEY BY ATTQRNEY United States Patent 3,177,048 SOAP HOLDER Blanche E. Whatley, 2281 NW. Hoyt, Portland, Oreg. Filed Oct. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 315,249 1 Claim. (Cl. 312--351) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in soap holders.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a soap holder having an improved construction whereby to support a bar of soap on edge and preferably on one of its end edges whereby a minimum area of the soap contacts the holder to provide less drippage than conventional holders, to keep the soap dry, and to position the soap for easy insertion and removal in the holder. Such improved structure also provides a soap holder which takes up a minimum of wall space and projects a minimum of distance from the Wall.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a soap holder adapted to support a bar of soap in upright end edge position and including a supporting bottom plate for the soap which is removable for easy cleaning.

Still another object is to provide a soap holder having a housing portion for supporting a bar of soap in upright edge position and including spacer means for preventing contact of the faces of the bar of soap with flat wall portions of the housing.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a soap holder which is simplified in construction, attractive in appearance, and inexpensive to manufacture.

Briefly stated, the invention resides in a holder of the type described having a housing portion open at the top and including an upwardly extending back wall. The bottom wall of the housing on which a bar of soap is supported comprises a removable plate in order that soap drippings may easily be cleaned therefrom. The housing is constructed and arranged to receive a bar of soap in an upright position, with one end edge of the soap being supported on the bottom plate.

The invention will be better understood and additional objects will become apparent from the following specification and claims, considered together with the accompanying drawings, wherein the numerals of reference indicate like parts and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the present soap holder showing the bottom supporting plate partially removed and showing a bar of soap, in broken lines, in the holder;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical, central sectional view of the holder, the bottom plate being shown in fully inserted position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the removable bottom support plate; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the plate of FIGURE 4, in reduced scale, taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

Referring now in particular to the drawings and first to FIGURES l, 2 and 3, the present soap holder comprises a housing having side walls 12, a front wall 14 and a back wall 16. The housing 10, including its side and front walls, is of minimum height, but its back wall 16 is preferably elongated. As shown in FIGURES l and 2, the back wall 16 preferably is of a height slightly greater than the length of a new bar of soap, the latter being shown in broken lines and designated by the numeral 13, but of course this specific length of the back wall is not to be considered as limiting since it may be of less height.

The bottom wall of the housing comprises a removable plate 20 which as best shown in FIGURE 2 has a rippled or corrugated portion 22 and a front reversely turned tab portion 24 which facilitates grasping the plate for insertion and removal. For slidably mounting the plate 20 in the housing, the front wall 14 of said housing has an opening 26 which receives the plate, and the side walls have inturned flanges 28 which serve as supporting tracks for the plate. Thus, the plate is adapted to be supported in the housing in a soap supporting position but is conveniently removed for cleaning.

The housing 10 is dimensioned and arranged to receive a bar of soap 18 in an upright end edge supported position, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. In the usual case where bars of soap are of elongated structure as compared to their width, the housing 10 would assume the shape shown in the drawings. Of course the housing may be made to conform to various soap forms but at any rate it is of a shape to support the soap in an end edge position and preferably with the least dimensioned portion projecting forwardly from the back wall 16. Thus, the device projects a minimum distance from the wall to take up a minimum of wall space.

In this end edge upright position, the soap is easily grasped for removal and since the soap is supported on an end edge there will be less drippings, and the few drippings that may reach the bottom and are deposited on the plate 20 can be readily cleaned from the latter after first removing the same.

It is desirable that the front and rear surfaces of the bar of soap be maintained out of contact with the inner surfaces of the housing, and for this purpose the front wall of the housing has a tab or projection 32 on its inner surface. Similarly, the back wall 16 of the housing has a tab or projection 34, whereby as apparent in FIGURE 2 the bar of soap is spaced from such walls. It cannot therefore stick to the housing and is always freely available for removal.

The holder may be mounted on a wall surface by suitable means, and for purposes of illustration herein suction cups 36 are shown in FIGURE 2. These suction cups may be applied to the bottom of the holder, rather than to the back, if desired for attachment of the holder on a flat surface such as a drainboard, and furthermore, the suction cups may be omitted altogether whereby the device may be merely seated on a drainboard.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate a modifified form of re movable bottom plate designated by the numeral 20a. Instead of the corrugations 22 which formv channels for collecting soap drippings, the plate 20a has a single recess 38 for catching and holding said drippings. Similar to the FIGURE 1 embodiment, the plate 201; has an inturned front tab 24a for easy grasping in the removal of the plate. The tab 24a is somewhat modified in structure, however, in that it is of narrow dimension and centrally disposed on the plate.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herein shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various other changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A soap holder for a bar of soap having opposite face surfaces and end edges, comprising a housing having integral side, front, and back walls, means on said back wall for attaching the holder to a supporting structure, the upper end of said housing being open for receiving a bar of soap and said housing being dimensioned and arranged to receive a bar of soap in vertical end edge position, said front and side walls being of selected dimension Patented Apr. 6, 1965 whereby to be of less height than a bar of soap stood on edge, means in said front wall defining a transverse opening adjacent the lower end thereof, flange means extending between said front wall and said rear wall interiorly of said housing at the sides thereof and in alignment with the lower defining edge of said front wall opening, a removable bottom plate projecting into said opening and supported slidably on said flanges, means in said plate defining at least one depression for holding soap drippings,

and a projection on each of said back Wall and front wall to maintain a bar of soap out of contact with said walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hawk et a1. Sept. 18, 1962 

